Eastern Hillsborough County community activist and occasional CL blogger George Niemann was the first to report the fact that former County Commissioner Brian Blair had agreed to accept the charge of accepting illegal campaign contributions in 2008 by signing a consent order and paying a fine of $750. That came after Niemann himself filed the complaint that triggered the commission's investigation.
With all of the controversies in Blair's brief but colorful political career, it's hardly the worst thing that he's been involved in. But you could argue that the press release he issued Monday night only made things worse.
Look, we've certainly made typos. They're embarrassing and no fun to have to correct, but they do happen.
However, there are several in the release the Blair camp issued out in response to acknowledging the fine. Check out the second paragraph here:
Mr. Neiman described himself as a watchdog Ethics Complainer in a recent article in Creative Loafing. His complaints rarely have merit and are overwhelmingly against Conservative’s. Mr. Neiman has also cost the taxpayer’s of Florida, untold thousands of dollars in FEC labor and Attorney fees.
First of all, Mr."Nieman" is actually Mr. Niemann with two n's at the end of his last name. Then there is the capitalizing of the word "conservatives." Except that as you can see above, it's written as "Conservative's." There's also "taxpayer's" when "taxpayers" would be correct.
But then there's the pure spin. Check out the 3rd and 4th paragraphs from the release, excerpted here:
This article appears in Feb 3-9, 2011.